HOMER - THE ILIAD

This page is for resources on and reaction to the assigned readings (Intro., Chapters 1,3,15,19,22, and 24) in the Iliad.

An interesting quote:

“The true hero, the true subject, the center of the Iliad, is force. Force as man's instrument, force as man's master, force before which human flesh shrinks back. The human soul, in this poem, is shown always in its relation to force: swept away, blinded by the force it thinks it can direct, bent under the pressure of the force to which it is subjected. Those who had dreamed that force, thanks to progress, now belonged to the past, have seen the poem as a historic document; those who can see that force, today as in the past, is at the center of all human history, find in the Iliad its most beautiful, its purest mirror.”

“Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates. The truth is, nobody possesses it. The human race is not divided up, in the Iliad, into conquered persons, slaves, suppliants, on the one hand, and conquerors and chiefs on the other. In this poem there is not a single man who does not at one time or another have to bow his neck to force.”

After having read the assigned sections of Iliad, how do you react to this quote?

Who are some of the characters in the thrall of force and how do they cope with it.

What of “progress?”

In what way does the Iliad hold up a mirror to humanity?

Are not human beings masters of the energy they have harnessed, the forces they have tamed, the weapons they have crafted?

“The indefinite combinations of human fallibility and nuclear weapons will lead to the destruction of nations (and, perhaps the species).” Former US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamera

Lots of literature, especially from the genres of horror and science fiction show concern that the forces, the energy, the technology, and the weapons are actually OUR masters. Achilles certainly does not seem to have mastery over his own fairly meagre powers. The idea of this character having access to "theater nuclear weaponry" seems, at best, troubling. What do you think? Are modern humans better able than Achilles to master their destructive capacities? Do you have examples that tend to support your conclusion?

Other Possible Discussion Questions:

What is the “will of Zeus?”

Some have characterized the Iliad as Homer’s explication of the origins of human suffering.

What are those origins?

What sort of character is Apollo?

What moves Apollo, Aphrodite Hermes, Hera, Zeus, or another of the gods?

What sort of character is Priam

Why doe Agammenon have authority?

What sort of relationship does Achilles have with his mother and his father?

Who is responsible for Patroclus’ death?

What is the warrior’s code of honor in the Iliad?

How does the morality of the people in the Iliad compare to the morality of the gods?

Why is the scene between Achilles and Priam so important in so many dimensions?

Why is this poem so important to the training of warriors that western military colleges invariably require initiates to read it?

Generate your own Discussion Questions.​RESOURCE:Librivox has audiobooks of several 19th century translations of the Iliad. Some of you may want to listen to the assigned books (Chapters) to help you out with the reading assignment HERE IS THE LINK